Campaigners were celebrating today as the future of two Teesside hospitals looked set to be secured.

The University of North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals are expected to continue on two sites thanks to a proposed shift in services.

The recommendation was made by Professor Sir Ara Darzi in his Tees Review - published yesterday to an audience of NHS representatives, MPs and local stakeholders.

Originally scheduled to travel from London by train, he was flown into Teesside yesterday after the terrorist

attacks wreaked havoc with the rail network in London.

The long-awaited report is the result of a review of health services across Teesside, North Yorkshire and County Durham.

John Bloom of Hartlepool-based Save Our Hospital welcomed the findings.

"My first impression is that this is looking like a very good deal," he said.

"It is going the right way, but this is not the end of the road. We will be keen to keep the review running in this direction and we will now become more of a monitoring organisation."

The future of both hospitals was thrown into doubt with the suggestion of a new "super hospital" built on a single site between Stockton and Hartlepool.

But under the latest proposals, the Hartlepool hospital would continue to provide a consultant-led A&E service, acute medicine and critical care.

It would also host a new Centre of Excellence in women's and children's services. Major trauma and out-of-hours emergency surgeries would be moved to North Tees.

The University Hospital of North Tees would become the main centre north of the river for emergency surgery, with expanded intensive care facilities. It would also continue to provide a full A&E and acute medicine service.

A North Tees Complex Surgery Centre would be developed at the site, providing upper gastro-intestinal cancer services as part of a network with the James Cook University Hospital.

The report also stated that James Cook was 100 beds short of optimal capacity and the proposed move of the services to North Tees would free capacity.

David Flory, soon to be acting chief executive of the County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority, said the move could also help to ease the financial situation at the Middlesbrough hospital.

Prof Darzi said changes would also be necessary at Northallerton's Friarage Hospital, which should concentrate on ensuring the future of A&E services, maternity and acute medicine.

But he said maintaining a trauma service and emergency surgery out of hours for the longer term would be hard to justify.

The report will now be studied by a joint committee of primary care trusts and acute hospital trusts before consultation with the public later in the year.